LUÍS DE FREITAS BRANCO (1890-1955): Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 - Symphony No. 1, Suite Alentejana No. 1, Scherzo Fantastique.

Description: Records International customers getting a bit long in the tooth will have bought Freitas Branco's symphonies on Portugalsom LPs more than 20 years ago from its previous owners. The better part of a decade ago, we offered a couple of CDs of the same recordings for a limited time (since when Portugalsom went out of business). Now, we have the first of four CDs of Freitas Branco's orchestral music in brand-new recordings at budget-price. The sound is a lot better but, of course, the music is as good as it ever was: in this symphony from 1924 - the first Portuguese symphony since Bomtempo except for Vianna da Motta's 1899 pubication - Freitas Branco follows the example of César Franck both formally and stylistically. But where Franck is plainly a Belgian of the industrial north with soot-laden skies, hard freezes and all kinds of emotional repression, this music positively bursts with optimism, sunshine and good spirits. It really is like Franck on Prozac! The 1907 Scherzo is claimed as a world premiere recording - the usual sort of brilliant orchestration but derivative music most 17-year-olds might write at the time - while the 1917 suite is based on the musical folklore of the Alentejo region, south of Lisbon, where the composer spent many of his summers. RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra; Álvaro Cassuto.